Are you looking for scholarships to help you pay for or reduce the cost of school? It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, whether you’re returning to school in the fall or it’s winter break, now is the time to start looking and apply for scholarships, whether they are motorsports scholarships or just funding a motorsports education.

No matter where you’re going to be attending school, what age you are, or what you’ll be studying, there are scholarships out there that you can qualify for. But many of the scholarships have deadlines far in advance of the semester so that they can go through applications, decide on a winner and prepare paperwork with your college.

1. GENERAL SEARCH

The first step in getting a scholarship is doing a search on what’s out there. One of the best places to start is Fastweb, an online scholarship search tool. It’s a great way to see what kinds of scholarships are out there, and what it takes to apply for them. You can also purchase a scholarship book but you want to make sure that it’s up to date with the latest information, like The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2012: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR STANDOUT QUALITIES

Once you know what kinds of scholarships there are, from essay to application, you’ll want to narrow your search down to your strengths and anything else that makes you unique aside from wanting a motorsports education. Do you go to a church? Do your parents belong to a club or work for a large company? See if those organizations have scholarships available.

Did you grow up farming potatoes? Have you been involved in student government? Are you a skilled photographer? If you’re interested in a motorsports education, you’ve obviously shown some interest in racing. Motorsports scholarships are out there in addition to scholarships targeted towards your other interests and skills. Some include the Ricky Hendrick Scholarship, the Automotive Women’s Alliance Motorsports Scholarship and many more.

3. SEARCH BY SPECIFICS

Do a google or Fastweb search for terms with your standout points along with ‘scholarship’. There are lots of scholarships out there and, whether they offer a $500 prize or a gift card to Amazon.com, every little bit helps when it comes to paying for college.

4. APPLY

Once you identify a few scholarships that you qualify for, it’s time to get to the applications. The strategy that will work the best for most people is to pick less than 10 scholarships and give those the best application you can instead of spreading yourself thin by applying to every scholarship out there.

And the best way to apply? Start. That’s often the hardest part for most people, but it’s the most important. Draft an outline of what you’ll write or do for the scholarship. Then start filling it in slowly. You’ll have a draft of your essay or application. Then, edit it. Then have your parents read it. Then edit it more. Then have a teacher read it. Have everyone you can get look over your application. Very few applicants will do this, so it will improve your application, and chances of getting a scholarship, greatly.

5. BE DEDICATED

Set aside 15 minutes every day for your scholarship search, and make that happen. If you feel like working longer, and often you will, that’s great. If not, at least you’re creating a habit out of it.

Good luck with your scholarship search as you pursue a motorsports education, whether it is at a motorsports engineering school or otherwise!

The Automotive Women’s Alliance offers a scholarship of varying amounts (although the majority appear to be $2,500) quarterly to female students who show a passion for the automotive industry or are pursuing a motorsports education based on a written application.

While this scholarship isn’t specifically a motorsports scholarship, it certainly can be applied to motorsports education if the committee deems it fit. There is no age limit on the scholarship and it can be applied to any type of program as long as the applicant will be applying her education to the automotive industry.

The application is pretty straightforward. In order to apply, students must fill out the application and provide a college transcript or high school transcript and proof of college enrollment, a cover letter (essay-style), and a resume.

There is no deadline, although the description shows that it is awarded quarterly.

Scholarship winners must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA for the year in which they receive the scholarship.

Past scholarship winners have applied their awards to: Colorado School of Mines Mechanical Engineering, Oakland University Human Resource Management, Northwood University Automotive Marketing and Business Management, University of Northwestern Ohio Performance Motorsports and Automotive Management, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering, Eastern Michigan University Graduate School Quality Management, Kettering University Mechanical Engineering and many more.

As you can see, it’s not necessary to be in a motorsports or even automotive technology program to qualify for the scholarship. It’s enough to show interest in the automotive industry and have the intent to apply your education to that field. This is a great way to help fund your motorsports education, even if you’re not attending a motorsports engineering school.